Trendy ways to grow your own food in small-space or no-space gardens

Mar. 28, 2013

Cabbages and other vegetables can be grown in fun, new ways, including straw bale gardening. / Rob Zimmer/Post-Crescent Media

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From berries to potatoes, onions to tomatoes, corn to cabbages, the most exciting new ways to garden this season may be in the way we grow our food.

For several seasons, plant hybridizers have focused on developing more compact versions of all of our favorite garden crops, including vegetables, fruits and berries. In addition, more and more gardeners have discovered interesting, productive new ways to grow.

Here are a few exciting ways for you to get creative with your crops this year.

Berries in containers

Growing berries in containers is one of the biggest trends in gardening as more plant hybridizers recognize the importance of these types of crops to small-space or no-space gardeners.

While growing vegetables in containers has become more commonplace, the concept of growing berries in pots is fairly new and requires a little more planning.

For example, things such as pollination, pruning and thinning may need to be considered, as well as how to store the plants for winter, since most berries are perennial.

Compact varieties of many berry crops have been introduced in recent years that are perfect for containers. There are container-sized blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, blackberries and more.

Avoid planting a single plant of any one type of berry. For many of these compact fruits, harvest and quality is better with cross-pollination of multiple plants, even those of different varieties.

Visit your local nursery for the best berries to cultivate in containers this growing season.

Straw bale gardens

Soilless gardening is becoming more popular for gardeners, not only for those who lack gardening space, but also for those who may have very rocky soil or extremely heavy clay.

A great way to experiment with soilless gardening is to try straw bale gardening.

Straw bale gardening is just that, using a bale of straw, or many, to create a living, soilless garden. Nearly anything can be grown in a straw bale garden, including most flowers, vegetables and herbs.

To create your own straw bale garden, all you need are bales of straws, transplants to insert into the bales of straw, and stakes and supports for any taller plants.

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To prepare straw bales for planting, simply soak them and let stand for three to four weeks in early spring, or use leftover, partially decomposed bales from the fall or winter. You want the bales to be past the initial heat of decomposition and have a more even, natural temperature. Compost teas and fertilizers can be added.

When ready to plant, create planting holes in the bale and insert transplants following normal spacing requirements. You may add a small portion of potting soil to stabilize the plant initially, but this is not required if the bale is adequately moist. This is the scariest part for most gardeners who are used to growing in soil. But trust in Mother Nature.

Seeds can be started on the straw bale by placing a few inches of soil directly on top of the bale and sewing just as you would in the garden.

Create your own straw bale salad garden by combining different types of lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers on a straw bale or two and watch the magic happen.

Potatoes in leaves

While it may not be possible to try this year, unless you have composted leaves left over from the fall, growing potatoes and other root crops in decaying leaves is a wonderful way to garden if you donít have space or if your soil and light conditions do not support these types of plants.

There are creative ways that gardeners have discovered to grow root crops, especially potatoes and onions. Using leaves raked in fall to create a wonderful planting medium for potatoes is a simple, beneficial way that you can grow your own food with little or no expense.

First, find a place in your yard where full sun is available for most of the day. Decide on the shape and size you would like your potato bed to be. A plot of 9 square feet will hold about 30 potatoes. In fall, rake leaves into the selected area, forming piles three feet high. Let sit all winter.

By early spring, the leaf humus will be perfect for planting. Simply purchase seed potatoes from a local garden center or retail outlet, chop into portions containing a growing eye on each section and let dry before planting.

To plant, simply place the seed potato on top of the leaves. Plant 10-12 inches apart, leaving three feet between rows. Spread a foot of decaying leaves on top, and water.

Growing potatoes in leaves is ideal as the loose, soilless medium makes them easy to pull in fall.

Other great crops for leaf gardening include carrots, onions, radishes, beets and other similar root crops.